Tobacco product



iii

Patented June 4, 1935 UNIT o STATES TOBACCO PRODUCT Lucy 0. Lawton,

Portchester, N. Y.

No Drawing. Application March 28, 1933, Serial No. 663,173

8 Claims.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending applicationSerial No. 612,637, filed May 20, 1932.

This inventionrelates to improvements in tobacco products and moreparticularly to the treatment of smoking tobacco to decrease oreliminate its irritating effects on the nose and throat membranes of theuser.

A general object of the invention is to provide a smoking tobaccoproduct which in use produces smoke which is substantially free fromharmful and/or incomplete combustion products which are irritating tothe membranes of the nose and throat of the user.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a smoking tobaccoproduct to which is added a material or mixture of materials of theclass hereinafter disclosed which, during smoking, insures relativelycomplete elimination of such products of combustion from the smoke.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises a product possessing the features,properties, and the relation of components which will be exemplified inthe product hereinafter described and the scope of the application ofwhich will be indicated in the claims.

It is well known that under usual conditions tobacco smoke from acigarette, pipe, or the like, contains harmful amounts of products ofcombustion, including volatile products either formed or freed from thetobacco during smoking, which are irritating to the delicate membranesof the nose and throat of the smoker. As examples of such products,there may be mentioned ammonia, formic acid, furfuraldehyde, carbonmonoxide, acrolein and alkaloid bases of the pyridine type. For example,I have found that the smoke drawn from an ordinary cigarette duringsmoking contains, per gram of cigarette, as much as 0.0005 gram ofammonia and 0.003 gram of aldehyde, expressed as formaldehyde. With thepossible exception of ammonia, the presence of these products in thesmoke seems to be intimately connected with the rate and completeness ofcombustion of the particular tobacco used in the cigarette.

It is also known that tobaccos from various regions differ in their rateand extent of combustibility, and Haley and Olson (c. f. Science, July5, 1929, p. 1'?) have found potassium carbonate and magnetic iron oxidein the ash of naturally mild tobacco. These inorganic constituents inthe ash resulted from the combustion of naturally occurring combinationsof these metals in the tobacco plant, but prior to the presentinvention, as far as I am aware, no means has been known for accuratelycontrolling the combustion to reduce the aforesaid irritatingsubstances.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, I have foundthat by artificial incorporation into the tobacco, from which thecigarette or the like is made, of certain special iron oxides ormaterials from which such oxides are formed by the heating during thesmoking of a tobacco or by equivalent pretreatment such as heating, asubstantial elimination of the aforesaid irritating products can beaccomplished with the result that the smoke from the tobacco is muchless irritating on the delicate membranes of the nose and throat.

I have found that such oxides as the active oxides originally preparedby Oskar Baudisch, and which possess certain biological catalyticproperties, as well as certain physical and chemical properties whichdistinguish them from the ordinary oxides known to chemical literature,are effective in the elimination of the irritating products ofcombustion in the preparation of my novel product. These oxides arereferred to by Baudisch as active or gamma oxide hydrates, and a few ofthe methods of preparation which he has advocated are shown in:

1. Science, October 2, 1925, page 311;

2. German Patent No. 531,082 of August 4, 1931; and

3. Journal of American Chemical Society, March 1932, page 943.

I have found that at the present time these oxides of Baudisch areunstable and that their cost is more or less prohibitive for the usecontemplated. I have found, however, that even better results can beobtained by the use of commercial iron pigments of the hydrated mixedferrous-, ferric-oxide type, such as, for example, the pigments known asMapico Brown A and Mapico Brown B, sold by Magnetic Pigments Company ofTrenton, New Jersey, and consisting of mixtures of 1% to 1 /2% ferrousoxide, 12% to 17% of water of hydration and the remainder ferric oxide.

While the theory of action of these compounds is unnecessary to a properunderstanding of the manner in which the present invention is to becarried out, I believe at the present time that these materials have athree-fold action as follows:

(a) As the water of hydration is driven ofi, it

assists in fixing the in the smoke;

(b) As the cigarette burns, the heated oxide gives up its oxygen, atleast in part, thereby effecting a more complete combustion of thetobacco and substantially reducing the incomplete combustion products ofthe smoke, such as aldehydes, formic acid, acrolein, carbon monoxide andthe like; V

(c) The iron thus released from the oxide combines with otherwisevolatile pyridine bases and nicotine derivatives, withholding them fromthe smoke at least long enough to prevent their being entrained therein.

' Thus, generally, therefore, the present invention includes theprovision insmoking tobacco of a material giving up omgen to insurerelatively complete combustion, a material giving up water of hydrationto assist in fixing the ammonia, and a metallic constituent acting tofix the alkaloid bases of the pyridine type; and I consider as beingwithin the scope of my invention all materials which accomplish theseresults collectively. Considered in its other aspects the invention alsoincludes the provision in smoking tobacco of a material which, uponsmoking, will form a metallic element acting to fix the alkaloid basessuch as pyridine, for example suitable compounds of iron, cobalt, nickeland the like. Also, the invention includes the provision in smokingtobacco of a material carrying a fixed source of moisture which, uponsmoking, will be released to provide free moisture which will act to fixthe ammonia, particularly fiocculent oxide hydrates of metals such asaluminum hydroxide and the hydrated oxides of the metals aforesaid.

ammonia released or formed While the above mentioned iron oxide hydratesare, as indicated, particularly suitable for use in the preparation ofmy product, I wish it to be understood that I am not confining myself tothe use of such iron oxide hydrates alone, or to the use of inorganicmaterial, as I may use any suitable inorganic-organic compound, theorganic part of the molecule of which acts as a stearic hindrancepreserving the particular active physical-chemical property (latticestructure) of the inorganic oxide formed when the organic part of themolecule is burned off. As an example of this, I might mentionparticularly the compound obtained by reacting on ferrous chloride withpyridine, as described by Baudisch in the article last cited above.

If it is desired merely to reduce the products of incomplete combustionwithout providing additional means to assist in fixing the ammoniacontent of the smoke, I have found it to be unnecessary to use the ironoxides above mentioned in their hydrated form. For example, I have foundthat if these materials, such as Mapicp Brown A and Mapico Brown 13, areheated at a temperature just suflicient to drive oft the water ofhydration, they may still be used with It will be understood, of course,that the materials may be added in proportions in accordance with theiractivity and the nature of the tobacco treated, and the amount ofamelioration of smoke desired. The materials may be added in anyconvenient manner to disperse them uniformly throughout the tobacco;and, with the oxides, I have found that the smaller the particle size,the greater the covering power per unit of weight, the better theadherence of the material to the tobacco treated, and the more eificientthe action thereof.

By way of applying the acid test to my invention, I prepared a cigaretteapproximately 1.05 grams from a poor grade Burleigh tobacco; anduniformly incorporated therewith approximately 0.05 gram of Mapico BrownB by spraying a suspension of the pigment on the tobacco before rolling.

This cigarette was checked against another cigarette made of the sametobacco, but untreated, and I found that the ammonia was reduced 100%,the pyridine bases 80%, the carbon monoxide 30% and the total aldehydes83% below that of the untreated tobacco. I

Of course with tobacco ordinarily used in the manufacture of cigarettes,theamount of material incorporated therewith may be considerably lessthan that indicated in the example, and I have found that with theBaudisch gamma ferric oxide hydrate or Mapico Brown B substantially noirritating products of combustion of the types referred to above aregiven off when from 1 to 10 milligrams of the oxide are incorporated percigarette.

It will thus be seen that by means of the principles of the presentinvention, a novel and useful tobacco product has been developed, andsince certain changes may be made in. the above product and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

It m also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Particularly it is to be understood that in said claims, ingredients orcompounds recited in the singular are intended to include compatiblemixtures of such ingredients wherever the sense per- Havlng described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1. A new article of manufacture comprising a smoking tobacco havinguniformly incorporated therewith an inorganic hydroxide carrying, as anormally fixed source of moisture, water of bydration from which, at thetemperatures attained in smoking, the moisture will be freed to fix theammonia formed during the smoking.

2. A new article of manufacture comprising a smoking tobacco havinguniformly incorporated therewith an oxidizing agent'of the mixedferrous-, ferric-oxide type sufficient to and capable of yieldingsubstantially all of its oxygen to afford more complete combustion ofaldehyde, acrolein and other products of incomplete combustion and offorming a metallic element capable of fixing alkaloid bases of thepyridine type formed during the smoking.

' empirical class 5101-" spouses it new icle oi msnufectui'e compr esrno tobacco he or incorporated therewith an oxig agent of the mixedhydioted ferrousionic-oxide type scient to and cop-chic oi yieldingsubstantially all of its oxygen to oiioid more complete combustion ofaldehyde, ecioiein end other products oi incomplete comhustion, of yielwater to fix the some, relessed, and oi yielding s, finely dividedmetallic element cepshle oi filmlrw alkaloid bases of the pyridine timeformed during the smoking.

i. A new article of msnuiacture comprising a smo tobacco containing asubstance oi the of gas. ieri'ic oxide hyte, and mixed hydratedien'ous-, ferricoxides such so Mopico Brown A and Mspico Brown Bcapelole of yiel oxygen to sfioi'd more complete combustion, of fixingthe full nlc released end of fixing alkaloid losses of the pyi-e typeiced r the smoking.

5. A new article of nuiectui'e com o oin: tobacco con 1: m? itsubstantially um. i incomted therein s smell emount of on iron organiccompound such as the iron com mund oi pyridine which upon hosting willform c poised tel-mus, ieri'ic oxide capolole oi yielding oil of itsoxygen as the tobacco is smoked to efioid more complete combustion of adehyde, ecmlein sud other products of incom plete combustion and cepshleoi yielding metallic ii'oii iii a finely divided stete to fix ollzeloidlosses oi the pyiie type during the siting.

6. An cuticle oi manufacture comprising a smoking tobacco havingincorporated uniformly therewith on omen z-w- 'vmaterial of the edferrous-ferric oxide type in such a finely divided state that it iscapable of yielding all its oxygen, when reduced d the smoking processto chord mote complete combustion of acrolein and aldehyde typecompounds and of yielding a nascent metallic element capable of fixingthe old losses of the mile type during the mug.

7. A new sic of nuiocture comprising a smoking tohucco containingsuhstentielly uniformly incorporated therein e small amount of oniron-inorganic compound and an organic mateiiel which will resettherewith to form on iron organic compound of such structure that thephysicelwhemicel properties of the inorganic oxide formed es the organicpert oi the molecule is burned E will be preserved in on active stateend will set to fix the #3: losses such as pyridine formed '1: A}; thesmo 8. A newerticle oi ture comprising a. smoking tohscco Y incoratedtherewith s commund oi e mtal belonging to the iron group which upon smowill he progressively reduced to role the metallic element 1 in e,finely divided state so as progressively to fix old hoses such es pyrieby reaction with said metsllic element m the toloeoco is smoked.

LUCY Q.

